NBA legend and now analyst Charles Barkley recently got honest about the topic of politics surrounding sports and how teams who have won titles have recently expressed their political stance.
In a recent episode of “The Steam Room” podcast, eleven-time NBA All-Star Charles Barkley discussed the topic of a sports team paying a courtesy call to The White House after winning a title for their respective league. This practice is more commonly known within the NBA and the NFL.
The idea was presented with the question of whether the Philadelphia Eagles should visit The White House or not. Recently, the Eagles won the Super Bowl LIX, after a blowout game against the Kansas City Chiefs.
While the NFL franchise has not yet announced plans for a visit to the President’s office, Barklery thinks that as a gesture of respect, they should. For Barkley, it’s not a matter of our political stance or who you voted for, but a matter of respect.
“I don’t care who the president is,” Barkley said. “He’s the president of the United States. It’s bothered me, the last 10 years, they’re like, ‘Well, I’m not going because this certain person is president.’ Dude, it’s the president of the United States.”
Charles Barkley Admits Not Agreeing With President Trump
While Charles Barkley admitted that he does not fully go with all of Tryump’s policies and the things that he has said, he still thinks that refusing to pay a courtesy call is bothering him.
“Even though I disagree with President Trump on some things, if I met him, I would still give him the respect and dignity he deserves,” Barkley said. “We can disagree, but it bothers me when these teams don’t want to go to the White House.”
There have been several instances where NBA players or teams have refused White House invitations during Donald Trump’s presidency.
One notable example is the Golden State Warriors in 2017. After winning the NBA championship, Stephen Curry expressed hesitation about visiting the White House, leading Trump to withdraw the invitation. The Warriors decided to use their trip to Washington, D.C., to celebrate on their own instead.
In 2018, Trump announced that he would not invite the NBA champions to the White House, regardless of whether it was the Golden State Warriors or the Cleveland Cavaliers. Both LeBron James and Stephen Curry had stated that their teams had no interest in visiting the White House. This decision came after Trump canceled a visit by the Philadelphia Eagles to commemorate their Super Bowl win, as most of the players had decided to skip it.
Charles Barkley has, in recent years, expressed that he is an Independent voter, and has criticized both the Democratic and Republican parties.
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